Activists are questioning the lack of response from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to a letter sent by international human rights organizations about the government’s handling of cases of religious discrimination.

According to Indonesia’s Human Rights Working Group, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, has sent a letter to the government raising concerns on the handling of cases including the GKI Yasmin church blockade in Bogor, the killings of Ahmadiyah members in Banten, the burning of churches in Klaten and Tegal, both in Central Java, and the destruction of a Buddha statue in North Sumatra.

“On behalf of the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, she [Pillay] sent a letter to question the handling of the cases, calling on the Indonesian government to immediately take action in accordance with international human rights standards. But so far, there is no response from the government,” Akbar Tanjung, the HRWG’s program manager, said in Jakarta during the weekend.

Pillay asked the government to respond to hatred, discrimination, intolerance and violence against minority groups. Read more

What Human Rights Watch‘s executive said need to be taken seriously if further violations of religious freedom and rights are to be avoided. He said “We will see many more incidents of violence against minority groups this year because the government can’t handle the current violations. The government is very weak and not serious. The violence will spread as impunity seems to prevail,”